Loco Pre-Blast 6/26/2018

Get ready for some modified Native American runs around St. Als. Coupons will be used so wear gloves. It may rain which shouldn’t be a problem.

I’d like to take this opportunity to quote an excerpt from the book “Discipline Equals Freedom – Field Manual” by Jocko Willink a retired Navy Seal. Highly recommended. This is about stress…something that we all deal with, probably, on a daily basis.

“First of all, and I don’t mean to minimize the stress people face, but: Imagine what Eugene Sledge went through on Peleliu and the tens of thousands of Marines there who suffered unimaginable horror. Imagine David Hackworth assaulting enemy positions in Korea, wounded over and over again on the line, still going back for more. Imagine the poet warrior Alan Seeger in World War One getting ready to go over the top and make his rendezvous with death… Imagine the thousands of warriors who have gone before you, who have stood and faced evil and death.

And now imagine you. I used to do this myself while in Iraq facing stress. Yes, we took casualties, and yes it was awful and heartbreaking every bit as wretched as I could imagine. But warriors have faced much much worse: The Battle of the Somme, or Gettysburg, or the Battle of the Bulge, or the Chosin Reservoir. Humans can withstand almost inconceivable stress- and you can too. So that is your first step: Gain perspective. And to do that you must do something critical in many situations: Detach.

Whatever problems or stress you are experiencing, detach from them. Stress is generally caused by what you can’t control

The worst thing about incoming artillery fire is you can’t control it. It is happening and you just have to accept it. Don’t stress about things you can’t control.

If the stress is something that you can control and you are not, that is a lack of discipline and a lack of ownership. Get control of it. Impose your will to make it happen. Solve the problem. Relieve the stress.

If the stress is something you can’t control: Embrace it. You can’t control it, but – How can you look at it from a different angle? How can you use it to your advantage?

I couldn’t control the chaos of combat.

I had to embrace it.

I had to figure out a way to take advantage of it.

Make it into your ally.

So. Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective.